May Devotional - Waiting on God
6 May 2008
I’ve been asked to speak on waiting on God at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference this month. In our fast food, 2go, instant culture, waiting for anything has become an alien concept. Waiting doesn’t sound very proactive either. We’re people of action, taught to ‘do’ to make things happen. So why wait on or for God?
The Bible is full of counter cultural messages, for God’s ways are not our ways, but his timing is perfect and ours often isn’t. When I rush ahead of God’s timing trying to make things happen, I tend to create a huge amount of pressure which often results in my being stressed out! It’s really hard to be patient and wait, but Isaiah 30 tells us that those who wait are blessed.
For those who wait on the Lord
[who hope and put their trust in Him…
who seek His sanctuary…
who send their roots down deeper into Him…]
Shall renew their strength…
They will rise on wings like eagles,
They will run and not grow weary,
They will walk and not be faint.
Waiting on God is not a waste of time but an investment of time and helps us keep in step with God’s plan for our lives. Waiting is also a discipline and one I’m slowly learning. I have noticed that when I wait, I spend more time praying and begin to surrender my agenda to God. Waiting says, God’s boss and I’m not and so acknowledges my dependence on him – not my will but yours, not my timing but yours.
Even with my emails, I’m learning how to stop pressing the send button immediately. Replying to emails can feel a bit like table tennis and there have been times when I wish I hadn’t batted back a reply quite so quickly! Now I try to leave important emails as drafts for at least 24 hours, and then only ‘send’ when it feels right to do so.
